Database driven online distributed tournament system

ABSTRACT

A method and a system for a distributed electronic tournament system in which many remotely located players participate in a tournament through input/output devices connected to a central controller which manages the tournament. The method includes the steps of (a) uniquely identifying a player communicating with the central controller via an associated input/output device; (b) responding to payment of an entry fee by the player for allowing the player to participate in a tournament occurring within a fixed time window via an associated input/output device; (c) accessing a database to store in the database player information that is generated as the player participates in the tournament, such information being available for use in a subsequent tournament, which is administered by said controller and in which the player participates; and (d) awarding the player a prize for achieving a pre-established performance level in the tournament. In another preferred embodiment, the method further includes the steps of determining whether the player has been qualified to advance to a subsequent game session, in which at least one player is eliminated from the previous game session; and permitting each player qualified to a subsequent game session to participate in that game session. The system includes software and hardware to implement the method steps.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to games, and moreparticularly to online electronic tournament games.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Competitive games are a popular form of recreation. From theOlympics to the Super Bowl to backyard volleyball games, competitivegames consume a large portion of our free time. Whether watching orparticipating, the allure is undeniable. In addition to the competitivesports, intellectual competitions such as chess or bridge tournamentsare also popular.

[0003] These competitions remain popular because whether a participantor spectator, one is involved. They require people to meet at a centrallocation and specific time, providing a sense of community andcamaraderie, as well as a place to socialize. A typical chesstournament, for example, might have fifty players meeting at a centralplaying site.

[0004] Such tournaments and competitions suffer from several drawbacks,however, as participants may have to travel considerable distance to getto the playing site and may require expensive overnight accommodationswhen the tournament lasts more than one day. The start times for mosttournaments must also be fixed in advance. The chess players, forexample, might meet at 9:00 AM for the start of the first round. Thisforces all participants to adhere to the same schedule, an increasinglydifficult proposition in today's busy world. Furthermore, facilitiesused to host the tournament, such as hotel meeting rooms, banquet halls,and auditoriums, represent a significant expense to the tournamentorganizers.

[0005] To ensure that the rules of the tournament are upheld, mostcompetitions require proctors, arbiters, referees, and the like.Retaining such people can add significant costs to competitions. Theremay also be a limited supply of individuals qualified to oversee thetournament. For example, if there are only two sanctioned backgammontournament directors in a city, the backgammon tournament might have tobe canceled if both are sick on the day of the competition. Suchcancellations can be costly for those participants planning on travelingto the tournament, who would have to cancel flights and hotelregistrations.

[0006] Tournaments geared to a narrower subset of tournament players(niche tournaments) are often economically unfeasible because of thehigh costs associated with obtaining playing facilities. While it may bepossible to hold a martial arts tournament in a city, it may be hard tohold a tournament for a specific subset of the martial arts such asAikido. The few players that would participate would not justify thecost of the facilities.

[0007] Electronic tournaments allow participants to “meet” incyberspace, competing at a virtual location accessible to any player atany time. Because no travel is required, many of the disadvantages ofphysical tournaments are eliminated, while maintaining the sense ofcamaraderie.

[0008] Online games and contests have existed almost since onlinenetworks were created. The first online services available to a userwith a personal computer and a modem were bulletin board systems orBBSs. They started appearing in the early 1980s and exploded inpopularity along with the growth of the personal computer. The mostprimitive of these systems allowed users to share files and exchangeemail. The ability to conduct electronic games was quickly added asenthusiasts joined the systems. BBSs were usually operated by computerenthusiasts more as a hobby than as a commercial enterprise. In the late1980s, corporations began creating online services that could handlethousands of users simultaneously. Online services such as Prodigy,CompuServe, and America Online brought a new level of professionalismand sophistication to the industry. Inelegant text-based user interfaceswere replaced with graphical front ends that no longer required users tomemorize arcane commands or codes. Game play became more popular as thesoftware became increasingly user-friendly.

[0009] One of the companies providing games in this new environment isNTN Communications. They offer a trivia game on America Online in whichplayers compete by answering a series of questions. There are fivepossible answers, with 1000 points being awarded for a correct answer.The player is given a limited amount of time to come up with an answer,and fewer points are awarded for a correct answer as time passes. At theend of the contest, the top scores are displayed to all competitors. Thegame has a major drawback, however, in that there are no prizes awardedto players. The competitive drive is diminished when there is no prizefor winning. It's like playing a game of poker without using money.

[0010] To increase player interest, several companies have begun tooffer online contests with cash prizes. Yoyodyne Entertainment providesan email-based trivia game that is available through the Internet andseveral online services. Players receive questions via email and mustsubmit their answers before a deadline, which is usually a day or twolater. Points are awarded for each correct answer and deducted for eachincorrect answer. The winner is the person with the highest score at theend of the contest.

[0011] Interactive Imaginations also developed online contests forprizes. They created the Riddler site on the World Wide Web. Users areoffered a selection of games, including trivia and puzzle games. Likethe Yoyodyne site, prize amounts are necessarily limited because thereare no entry fees.

[0012] One company has combined both entry fees and prizes to generatenew potential customers. Bert & Associates created an options tradinggame in which contestants pay an entry fee in order to become eligiblefor the prizes. The game was merely a peripheral element of theirbusiness, however, meant only to attract customers to their brokeragebusiness.

[0013] Another limitation of the games run by Yoyodyne and InteractiveImaginations is that there is no continuity among the games. The resultsof one game have no impact on the results of another game. Each game isan independent event; they are not linked together into a morecontinuous game experience. After registering for one game, the processmust be repeated for future games. A player who has become an expert ina trivia game is able to enter the same trivia games again and again,monopolizing the top prizes. Game organizers are unable to prevent thissince there are no effective controls on who can register for a game.Games geared exclusively to experts are impossible as there is noeffective way to screen the qualifications of participants.

[0014] Rating systems, popular in chess and backgammon games, areimpossible to implement without a way to track a player's progress overa number of games. Handicap systems popular in golf games are similarlyrestricted in that player results must be tracked over a series ofgames, not just one game.

[0015] Online games also lack effective reservation systems; playerssimply log on at the appropriate time and begin play. If game organizerswant to restrict the number of players, they are forced to establish anarbitrary limit on the number of entrants. If such a limit is enforced,however, players will have no way to know in advance whether or not theywill be able to register at the time the tournament starts.

[0016] Existing electronic games also lack the implementation of levels,a progression of increasing difficulty throughout the competition. Whatis missing is the excitement of elimination found in virtually everyother competitive environment. To date, all online contests haveinvolved a single game session. In a trivia game, players answer aseries of questions and receive a score based on the number of correctresponses. The winner is the player with the highest score. In a puzzlecontest, the first correct solution wins.

[0017] The world of professional sports demonstrates the desirability oflevels. Professional basketball, for example, consists of a regularseason followed by post-season play. A certain number of teams qualifyfor post-season play based on their regular season records. These teamsthen play each other in an elimination format until two teams remain toplay in the final series that determines the winner. Advancement to thenext round of post-season play depends on a team's performance in theprevious round. There is no doubt that the tournament structure adds agreat deal of excitement not only to each of the post-season games, butalso to the games at the end of the regular season as well.

[0018] Imagine a basketball season in which the champion was determinedby the regular season record alone. The last games of the season wouldbe irrelevant if the current leader were many games ahead of the nearestteam. Spectator and player interest would drop dramatically. Teams whosescores would place them in the middle of the pack could be out ofcontention with dozens of games remaining. There would be littleincentive to press for a win in the remaining games. Key competitivematch-ups might also be missed. Two teams with top records that werenever scheduled to play each other would vie for the title without everhaving played. Player curiosity as to which team was really the bestwould not be satisfied without a head to head competition.

[0019] All professional sports use an elimination process to make thegame more exciting for participants as well as spectators. Professionalfootball, baseball, basketball, and hockey all have regular seasonsfollowed by post-season play in which teams are eliminated fromcontention. Instead of having a regular season, professional tennisoffers a series of games in which the field narrows through a process ofelimination until ultimately one competitor remains and is declared thewinner. Professional golf tournaments have a cut in which the field isdramatically cut back before the final round of competition begins.

[0020] It should be apparent from the foregoing that there is a need foran electronic gaming system in which players from different locationscan participate in and win awards. The system should not just supportstand-alone games, but should also support the coordination of multiplegames in which information from one game impacts future games.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0021] An object of the present invention is to provide methods anddevices for effectively operating multiple database-driven distributedelectronic game tournaments for remotely located players. It providesnumerous advantages over existing tournament systems; such assimplifying the collection of entry fees and the payment of prizes, aswell as allowing for rating and handicap systems.

[0022] In the invented system, players pay entry fees for the right tocompete for substantial prizes in electronic tournaments. Unlikeexisting tournament systems, the present invention allows for thecoordination of multiple tournaments, making each tournament part of awhole rather than a stand-alone individual event.

[0023] In one preferred embodiment, a central controller manages thetournament system, coordinating both the players and game software withwhich the players compete. The system uniquely identifies each player asthey log on, authenticating the associated input/output device that isconnected to the central controller. This unique identifier allows otherplayers to know whom they are competing against. Each player typicallypays the system an entry fee before participating in a particulartournament, with payment delivered through the associated input/outputdevice. The tournament begins and ends within a fixed time window,typically measured in hours or minutes.

[0024] After each tournament is over, the system evaluates playerperformance, awarding prizes to those players achieving pre-establishedperformance levels.

[0025] Due to the complexity of coordinating multiple tournaments, onepreferred embodiment includes the use of a database. In this embodimentthe central controller accesses the database to store player informationthat is generated as the player participates in the tournament. Suchinformation is available for use in a subsequent tournament, which isadministered by the controller and in which the player participates.

[0026] In another preferred embodiment with the central controller, eachtournament game is broken down into a series of game sessions in whichplayers must qualify in one game session in order to be eligible to playin the next. This elimination format significantly increases tension andenhances excitement in the games, since only the best players are leftfighting for the top prizes in the final game session. In such anembodiment, each subsequent game session has at least one fewer playerthan a previous game session.

[0027] Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrates by way ofexample the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]FIG. 1 shows a distributed electronic tournament system in thepresent invention.

[0029]FIG. 2 shows one preferred embodiment implementing the presentinvention.

[0030]FIG. 3 shows one preferred set of steps to uniquely identify aplayer in the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 4 shows one preferred set of steps to respond to payment ofan entry fee in the present invention.

[0032]FIG. 5 shows one preferred set of steps to access playerinformation collected from prior tournaments.

[0033]FIG. 6 shows one preferred set of steps to award a player a prizein the present invention.

[0034]FIG. 7 shows one preferred set of steps for a player to play in aspecific game session with a fixed start time in the present invention.

[0035]FIG. 8 shows one preferred set of payment steps in the presentinvention.

[0036]FIG. 9 shows a screen with a plurality of windows in the presentinvention.

[0037] The numerals in FIGS. 1-9 are assigned to similar elements in allthe figures. Embodiments of the invention are discussed below withreference to FIGS. 1-9. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat the detailed description given herein with respect to these figuresis for explanatory purposes, as the invention extends beyond theselimited embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0038]FIG. 1 shows a distributed electronic tournament system 100 with acentral controller 102 connected to a number of input/output (I/O)devices, 104 and 106, in the present invention. The input/output devicemay be a video gaming console, a personal computer, handheld electronicdevice, and the like. The central controller may be a workstation, aminicomputer, or other type of computation device, typically in the formof a server computer connected to a public or private network. The I/Odevices are remotely located from the central controller to allowparticipation in a tournament to be distributed. The I/O devicespreferably are connected to the central controller, at least when theI/O devices are involved in games. Such connection may be through awireless telecommunication network or through a ground-based network108, such as the Internet. While online, the I/O device typicallycommunicates with the network via a public or private switched networksuch as the circuit switched public telephone network. The centralcontroller has software which it uses to manage the tournament. In onepreferred embodiment, the I/O devices are personal computers connectedto an online service such as America Online. The central controller is aworkstation computer on America Online that coordinates the tournamentactivities.

[0039] The tournament databases are preferably relational, in whichfields from one database are linked to fields of at least one otherdatabase. These databases are controlled by a database management system(DBMS) which organizes, stores, and retrieves the tournament'sdata/information. The DBMS communicates with the operating system toread data from the storage device. The database is associated with orresides at the central controller.

[0040] The operating system software runs the central controllerhardware and controls and coordinates all of the tournament softwareapplications. These software applications include programs for runningthe tournament games, registering players, accepting entry fees, andcoordinating prize payment. Tournament games might be commerciallyavailable software programs such as Microsoft Golf, or proprietary gamesoftware designed exclusively for online tournament play.

[0041] The above hardware and software are configured to implement thetournaments in the present invention. Each tournament has a game format,one or more game sessions, and challenges as will be described in moredetail later. The game format is the broad category that describes thetype of game being played.

[0042] Typically, the database system is managed by the centralcontroller and communicates with the game software used to conduct theactual tournament. The game software handles operational issues such asdisplaying the game format on the I/O device screen, calculating scores,controlling player access to tournaments, etc.

[0043]FIG. 2 shows one preferred embodiment 200 implementing the presentinvention. Although the control of the operations of the I/O devices andthe central controller are typically incorporated into software code,such operations can also be embodied in hardware circuits to implementthe invention. The preferred embodiment 200 includes: (1) process steps202 for uniquely identifying a player, who communicates with the centralcontroller via an associated input/output device; (2) process steps 204responsive to payment of an entry fee by a player for allowing theplayer to participate in a particular tournament via an associatedinput/output device; (3) process steps 206 for accessing a tournamentdatabase to store player information that is generated as the playerparticipates in the tournament, such information being available for usein a subsequent tournament, which is administered by said controller andin which the player participates; and (4) process steps 208 for awardinga player a prize for achieving a pre-established performance level.

[0044] These process steps are typically implemented by the centralcomputer controller in order to make tournament operations faster andmore cost efficient. A number of different preferred embodiments of theabove steps will be described to provide a general view of methods toimplement each set of process steps. The different ways serve only asexamples. After the general overview, more detailed descriptions andexamples follow.

[0045] The process steps 202, as shown in FIG. 3, for uniquelyidentifying a player preferably include the steps of a playerestablishing 300 an online connection between the I/O device and thecentral controller. The player enters 302 a unique identifier throughthe associated I/O device. The identifier is assigned by the centralcontroller or chosen by the player. The identifier can be his name,social security number, account number, password of his choosing, etc.It is important to note that although the player may be uniquelyidentified to the central controller, he may at the same time remainanonymous with respect to the other competitors in the tournament. Theunique identifier is then communicated 304 to the central controller viathe communication network. The central controller accesses 306 adatabase and searches 308 the records to determine whether or not theidentifier already exists. If the record already exists, the player isidentified 310; when the record does not already exist the registrationprocess 312 begins in which the player enters 314 information such asname, age, address, payment preferences, etc. The central controllergenerates 316 a unique identifier for the player and stores 318 it inthe database.

[0046] In one preferred embodiment, a player must pay an entry fee tothe central controller through the associated I/O device before he isallowed to participate in a tournament. The process steps 204, as shownin FIG. 4, responsive to the payment of an entry fee to a tournamenttypically include the steps of the central controller requesting theplayer to enter 350 payment information into the I/O device. Details ofpayment methodologies are described below in more detail. The paymentinformation is communicated 352 to the central controller via thecommunication network. The central controller receives and updates 354the player's record in the database to reflect that payment has beenmade and also updates 356 the player's database record to reflect thatthe player is eligible to participate in the tournament. In anotherpreferred embodiment, the controller does not have to requestinformation, and no payment information is communicated to thecontroller. This may be because the player has played before, and thecontroller is aware of the player's preferences as described below.

[0047] After determining that the player is eligible to play, thecontroller sends an acknowledgment message to the associated I/O device.When the tournament starts, the player is able to begin play.

[0048]FIG. 5 describes the process steps 206 for accessing a tournamentdatabase to store player information. The central controller accesses400 the tournament database and then stores into the database 402 theplayer's information generated by the player as the tournamentprogresses.

[0049] Player information stored in the database includes entry feedata, handicap and rating information, player performance data andplayer preferences. Storing entry fee data, such as a credit card numberor bank account number, streamlines the payment process for subsequenttournaments. When paying for a tournament, the player simply provideshis unique identifier to the central controller, which pulls his creditcard number from the database and credits his card for the appropriateentry fee amount. Because many online environments have yet to implementeffective transaction security protocols, reducing the number of times acredit card number is transmitted enhances security.

[0050] Player performance data can also be carried forward from onetournament to the next. In addition to wins and losses, performance datacan include accuracy rates, time required to answer, etc. If a playercompetes in five trivia tournaments, for example, his average accuracyrate is stored in a database. Such information is crucial inestablishing handicap systems, which level the playing field bypenalizing the better players and aiding the weaker players. A golfhandicap, for example, allows a skilled player to compete with arelatively inexperienced player. Performance data can also be used togenerate player ratings, similar to the Elo rating system used by theUnited States Chess Federation. Ratings are numeric values thatrepresent the skill of the player. The central controller retrievesperformance data from a database and applies an algorithm to determinethe rating. A player's rating rises and falls depending on the resultsof his play. Ratings allow tournaments to be easily segmented by skilllevel.

[0051] Storing performance data allows the central controller torestrict eligibility to future tournaments. Certain tournaments, forexample, may be available only to players having obtained a given levelof performance in a number of qualification tournaments.

[0052] A database of performance data also allows inter-tournament prizepools in which a player is eligible for a prize based not on the resultsin a single tournament, but on a combination of tournaments. Forexample, in addition to a normal weekly prize, there may be a grandprize awarded to the player winning the greatest number of weekly prizesover a year period.

[0053] Continuity between tournaments is improved by storing playerpreferences. Once a player's preference for method of prize payment isestablished, for example, the central controller no longer needs to askhow the player wants to be paid. By storing player preferences fortournament formats, the central controller can send tournament detailsto a player when any tournaments of this type are scheduled in thefuture. Tournaments are also more fun for players when data are storedas to favorite opponents, allowing the central controller to betterallocate players among tournament sections.

[0054] After player information is stored in the database, it isavailable for use in a subsequent tournament (administered by thecentral controller) in which the player participates.

[0055] The process steps 208, as shown in FIG. 6, for awarding a playera prize include the steps of the central controller accessing 450 thetournament database to retrieve the pre-established performance levelsfor the awarding of prizes. The central controller reviews 452 theperformance of each player relative to the established performancerequirements for the awarding of prizes. Preferably, the centralcontroller updates 454 the winning player's database records to reflectthat awards have been allocated to them. The central controller wouldthen arrange for distribution 456 of the prize or prizes. Thisdistribution process can be conducted through online or off-linemethods.

[0056] Typically, the pre-established performance level is a relativeranking among players, such as the top five scores of the tournament.Performance criteria can also be fixed, however, with prizes paid to anyplayer exceeding a certain score. A trivia tournament, for example, canaward a prize to any player correctly answering at least twentyquestions. Fastest time to completion is another way to establishperformance levels.

[0057] Prizes awarded might be $100 for the player getting the topscore, $50 for the player with the second highest score, and $25 for thethird highest score. Alternatively, top scores could receive free entryfees to future tournaments, or points which may be accumulated andconverted later into prizes. Although prizes are typically monetary innature, prizes such as recognition may be equally appropriate. Therecognition of being able to advance from one game session to the nextgame session can also be considered a prize.

[0058] Another preferred embodiment includes the step of determiningwhether a player has qualified for advancement to the next game session.This includes the step of the central controller reviewing the player'sscore after the just-concluded game session. This score is compared tothe scores obtained by all of the other players in the same session.Based on these scores, the central controller produces a list of thoseparticipants qualifying for the subsequent session. There are a numberof preferred embodiments for the qualifying criteria, including, forexample, a minimum required score, a minimum average score over the lastseveral game sessions, or the maximum score within a sub-group ofplayers in the game session. Only those on the qualified list would beallowed to continue to play in the subsequent game session.

[0059] The central controller generates a list of players qualified forthe subsequent game session. In one preferred embodiment, the number ofplayers on the qualification list is at least one fewer than the numberplaying in the previous game session. Note that in the presentinvention, a game session includes one or more games with a group ofplayers playing the games within an established time frame. In a triviatournament of four game sessions, the first session may be composed often groups of fifty players each for a total of five hundred players.The second game session may comprise five groups of sixty players eachfor a total of three hundred players. Although the size of the playinggroup has increased from fifty to sixty, the overall number of playersin the game session has dropped from five hundred to three hundred. Inthis embodiment, it is at the point of elimination that the boundary ofgame sessions is defined.

[0060] In one preferred embodiment, the central controller also preventsthose players not qualified to play from participating in a tournament.The central controller generates a game session password which isdistributed only to qualified players. Without the correct password,non-qualified players are unable to compete. In one preferredembodiment, players must enter an electronic “chat room” (of the typecommonly found on most commercial online systems) in order to obtain thegame questions. Access to this room is password protected so that onlyauthorized players are allowed access to the questions. The centralcontroller might also enforce qualification rules by terminating aplayer's online connection, or by merely preventing a non-qualifiedplayer from winning any prize.

[0061] The following illustrates a number of more detailed examples ofthe tournament system. Some of these examples also show differentpreferred embodiments of the system.

[0062] In terms of game formats, examples include strategy games (chess,checkers, bridge, etc.) and puzzles (crossword, jigsaw, etc.). Eachtournament has one or more game sessions which are sub-units of thetournament. After completion of the first game session, one or moreplayers may be eliminated from the tournament. Each game session isfurther broken down into one or more challenges, which are the puzzles,trivia questions, or games in which the players compete. A triviatournament, for example, may have three game sessions scheduled forstart times of 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM. Each game session may havetwenty challenges—in this case multiple-choice questions. After a playercompleted the twenty questions of the first game session, the centralcontroller would determine whether or not the player had qualified toadvance to the next round at 2:00 PM. After the twenty questions of the3:00 PM game session a winner would be determined and prizes would beawarded. In another example, a golf tournament may be held in whichthere is one game session and nine challenges—in this case nine holes ofelectronic golf. The player's score for the tournament is simply thetotal number of strokes taken to complete the nine holes.

[0063] Each game session takes place within a fixed time window, andthus has an established start and stop time. The first game session ofthe puzzle tournament, for example, may start at 1:00 PM and end at 3:00PM. For some game formats, however, all players do not have to start andstop at the same time. Some players may start later than others, andsome players may finish earlier than others. As the tournamentprogresses, more and more players are eliminated. Although the finalgame session typically determines the winners for the tournament, merelyadvancing from one game session to the next may qualify the player for aprize or recognition. Typically, game sessions become progressivelyharder as the tournament continues.

[0064] Although the above preferred embodiments have describedtournaments based on games of skill, the same tournament structure isequally applicable to games of chance or to games that involve acombination of skill and chance. Computer golf games, for example,require a great deal of skill in the form of hand/eye coordination, butmay also contain elements of chance, such as a randomly generated windspeed.

[0065] In one preferred embodiment, the number of players for each gamesession has no upper limit and is constrained only by the availabilityof I/O devices. In another preferred embodiment, the number of playersis restricted by an established ceiling, restricting tournamentregistrations to a fixed maximum. Each tournament thus has a number ofopen positions which are gradually filled as players register. Althoughthese positions are typically available on a first-come first-servedbasis, positions can be set aside for a select group of premium playerswho may be designated as such by the central controller. These positionsare held open until a fixed time before the start of the game session.At that preset time, the reserved positions are made available to allplayers, including those not within the selected group. In a tournamentlimited to one hundred players, for example, five positions may be heldfor premium players. After the ninety five open positions are filled,only registrations from premium players are accepted. If no premiumplayers take these positions, they may be made available to all playerstwenty minutes before the start of the first game session.

[0066] Tournaments can also accommodate team play. The unique identifierfor a player then becomes associated with an identifier for a team sothat the central controller can incorporate the player into a team.Scores of the individual members of a team may be averaged to generate ateam score, or perhaps the top score from each team represents the teamscore. In addition to a player's database record indicating the names ofany teams that he is on, there might also be a database record for eachteam listing the players that are members.

[0067] There are, of course, many different game formats that lendthemselves to electronic online tournament competition. The followingeight general categories provide a brief summary.

[0068] Dexterity games are perhaps the most common games seen in anonline environment. These games require hand/eye coordination and areusually patterned after arcade video games or personal computer games.Examples include martial arts fighting games or flight simulators. Suchgames are often referred to as “twitch” games since even the slightestmistake in coordination can prove fatal to a player's chances. Anothercategory of dexterity games is sports games. Computer golf, for example,is played on millions of personal computers. Players enter parameterssuch as the type of club used, the placement of their feet, the forcewith which they hit the ball, the direction of the shot, etc. Thecomputer calculates where the ball should go and displays the new ballposition on the screen of the I/O device. In an online tournament,players might compete in a “closest to the pin” tournament. The aboveparameters would be sent to the central controller which calculateswhere the ball landed The player whose ball lands closest to the pin,for example, may win a prize or qualify to advance to a subsequent gamesession.

[0069] The game of golf also lends itself to hole-in-one competitions.For his entry fee, each player gets five virtual golf balls to hit.Starting from a given par three hole, any hole-in-one is awarded with aprize. To prevent players from eventually discovering the optimal mix ofparameter inputs (foot placement, force of swing, etc.), gamecharacteristics such as pin placement, tee location, and sand traplocation could be varied for every tournament. Course configurationswould be stored in the tournament database for every course.

[0070] Another popular electronic game format involves answeringquestions with deterministic answers, such as trivia games. Players arepresented with questions that have a definite answer. This type of gameformat is particularly well suited to online tournaments since theamount of information exchanged between the central controller and theI/O devices is minimal due to the text-based nature of the game. Aquestion might require the player to type in the correct answer, orselect from a list of potential answers. Linked to the tournamentdatabase would be a database devoted to storing questions and answers,from which trivia tournaments would extract questions. In addition tothousands of questions and answers, this database would contain fieldsfor the category of question (sports, movies, geography, etc.), the datein which the question entered the database, the number of times thequestion had been used, the difficulty of the question (predicted by thetournament organizers), and a list of tournaments that had already usedthe question. This last database field is especially important given thetime and expense associated with creating questions and answers, sincethe re-use of some questions is almost inevitable. While tournamentorganizers obviously do not want to have players seeing questions forthe second time, they also do not want to throw out a question that onlya small percentage of potential tournament participants have seen.Databases provide the best compromise since it is possible to trackexactly which tournaments (and thus what players) have seen a question.When questions are selected for a given tournament, the database wouldbe searched to see whether any player in this tournament hadparticipated in another tournament which had already seen the question.

[0071] Databases also make possible tournaments in which teams ofplayers each gets different questions. On a four player team, the firstteam member may get the most difficult question while the fourth memberof the team may always get the easiest question. The database wouldsimply match the difficulty of the question with player team status.

[0072] With dozens of tournaments occurring simultaneously, and playerscompeting in multiple tournaments at the same time, another function ofthe tournament database is to track which players are entered in whattournaments.

[0073] Prediction games are also gaining popularity in onlineenvironments. These games involve the player predicting the outcome of afuture event, such as the price performance of a stock over the nextthirty days or the temperature of a group of cities the following day atnoon. Because player selections must be stored until the event inquestion has transpired, a database is an essential component of thetournament. The database is especially useful for prediction tournamentsin which the player chooses from a selection of target performancelevels. Players in a weather prediction tournament might choose fivecities from a selection of one hundred, and may also choose the hour atwhich their temperature prediction is to be assessed for each chosencity. The database would contain fields for possible cities, chosencities, temperatures, and times.

[0074] Puzzle games have been popular for many years. Examples includecrossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, Rubik's Cube, etc. In one embodiment,the puzzle is posted on the World Wide Web at noon on Saturday. Playerssubmit their answers to the game controller with the first three correctresponses receiving a prize or advancing to a further game session. In ajigsaw puzzle competition, teams of players compete to put together anelectronic jigsaw puzzle in the shortest time. A puzzle database trackswhich players are on which teams, and prevents unauthorized players fromparticipating in puzzles.

[0075] Strategy games are also well represented in online tournaments,partly because there have been parallels in the off-line world for somany years in the form of tournament chess, backgammon, bridge, etc.Although the result is a discrete win/lose/draw, the manner in which theplayer attains the result is critical. There is no such thing as a“correct” answer. An online chess tournament might start with sixty-fourplayers, dropping to half that number each game session as players areeliminated.

[0076] Support for complex pairing/matching systems is one of the keybenefits provided by tournament databases. After each game session of aSwiss-system (non-elimination) chess tournament, for example, playersmust be paired again with a different opponent. Information such as thenumber of previous wins/losses, the color allocation, and the rating ofthe player all must be incorporated into the pairing in order to ensurethe fairness of the competition. Databases also offer the ability toincorporate player preferences into the pairings, allowing a player tolist preferred opponents, or people with whom he would rather not play.

[0077] Because some strategy tournaments such as chess take place overdays or even weeks, database systems are especially useful inmaintaining order. These databases can communicate with an email systemto provide a tournament coordination system in which players are beingconstantly informed as to when and with whom their next game isscheduled.

[0078] Judgment games require human judgment to establish who willadvance to the next game session or win a prize. Examples include essaywriting tournaments or art tournaments. Because these forms ofcompetition have no “correct” answer, they obviously cannot be evaluatedby computer and so require the participation of human judges. In anexemplary essay writing tournament, players submit a short essay forscoring by a panel of three judges. The average of these three scores isthen compared with the scores of other participants. The top ten percentof the scores, for example, could qualify to advance to the next gamesession in which a new, possibly more lengthy or detailed essay, wassubmitted. Judgment tournaments are not restricted to text-basedentries. In a skating tournament, participants could videotape theirskating performance and send a digitized version to the centralcontroller for judging in much the same way that the written essays weresubmitted.

[0079] The database record for every tournament participant mightcontain all of their submissions to judgment tournaments. This wouldprevent a player, for example, from submitting the same essay to morethan one essay tournaments since all essay submissions could be checkedagainst past submissions.

[0080] Databases of judges scores would allow tournament organizers tocheck the comparability of their scores, determining whether one judgewas consistently giving low marks, or whether some judges were givingexcessively high marks to a particular player.

[0081] Tournaments can also be based on games of luck or chance in whicha player has no control over his progression through the tournament. Oneexample is a slot machine tournament in which advancement to the nextgame session depends on the slot machine payout over the current gamesession. Since the slot machine payout is determined randomly, eachparticipant in the tournament has the exactly same chance to win. Adatabase of all slot machine outcomes would of course be helpful inverifying the randomness of the algorithms used to create the outcomes.

[0082] Lastly, tournaments in which time to completion is the primarymethod of differentiating among players are also popular. One example iselectronic car race simulations in which the shortest lap times receiveprizes or awards. A tournament might consist of ten laps around a track,with the shortest time to completion declared the winner.

[0083] Many games, of course, exhibit characteristics from two or moreof the above categories. A poker tournament, for example, containselements of both strategy (the way you bet) and luck (the cards youdraw).

[0084] Tournaments may be held contemporaneously with a live event. Atrivia tournament, for example, could be based on a popular televisionsituation comedy with questions based on the actions of characters inthe show. Questions could also be asked regarding the anticipatedactions of the show's characters, creating a prediction format for thetournament.

[0085] In one preferred embodiment, there may be several different gameformats represented in a tournament or game session. A tournament, forexample, may start with three groups of players—one group answers triviaquestions, the next solves a crossword puzzle, while the last groupplays electronic football. Qualification to advance to the next gamesession is based on a player's performance relative to the meanperformance of their own group. Each player's score is normalized byconverting it into a number of standard deviations above or below themean. Comparisons are then made among players competing in entirelydifferent games. Any player scoring better than one standard deviationabove the mean of his group qualifies for advancement to the next round.In addition to the normalization process, standard deviations can besubjectively adjusted by some numeric constant in order to reflect aperceived difference in the difficulty of the different game formats.

[0086] Another variation is to have competitors play the same gameformat, but with different game parameters. In a golf game, for example,the trajectory of the ball may be affected by wind speed, humiditylevels, slickness of the grass, etc. Two competitors hitting a ball withthe same club using the same force and the same foot placement mighthave their ball land in a different spot due to the different gameparameters. The wind for one player's shot my be five miles per hour outof the East, while the second player faced a wind speed of twenty milesper hour out of the South.

[0087] In another preferred embodiment, the difficulty level of a gamesession is adjusted as the game session is played. In a conventionaltrivia tournament, for example, the difficulty of the questions isdetermined in advance. A tournament might have a series of ten questionsthat are prepared before the contest. A prize may be awarded to theplayer with the best score. If there are a large number of participants,however, there may be a number of perfect scores at the end of thecontest. In order to increase the probability that there is only onewinner at the end, more difficult questions can be used. The problemwith this strategy, however, is that less skilled players will feelfrustration because of their poor performance. Ideally, questions wouldbecome more difficult only if it seemed as though there was a chance ofmultiple perfect scores. This would allow easy or moderate questions atthe beginning of the game to make beginners feel more comfortable, whileallowing for more difficult questions to be included if moredifferentiation is required. Reflexive software provides just such asolution. A pool of game questions are assigned a difficulty level inadvance. The first question of the contest is always fairly easy, butthe difficulty of subsequent questions is based on the accuracy rateachieved on prior questions. If players are doing well, the questionsget harder. Although these techniques are well suited to trivia games,they are also applicable to almost any other game format.

[0088] In one preferred embodiment, the time window for a game sessionhas a fixed end time, which means that all the games within the gamesession must be completed by a certain time. The fixed end time for thegame session could be applied only to players in contention for prizes.In a crossword puzzle tournament, for example, after the fixed end timefor the final game session has been reached the winners have alreadybeen determined. Players who have not yet finished the puzzle can ofcourse continue to work on it beyond the fixed end time, although theyare out of contention for prizes.

[0089] In another preferred embodiment, the time window for a gamesession has a fixed start time, which means that all the games orquestions within the game session start at the same time. As an example,trivia games preferably should have a fixed start time since a playerwho starts later would have the advantage of knowing the questionsposted to players who had started earlier. This would give the laterplayer the ability to look up the answers in advance of answering themhimself, resulting in an unfair advantage. Not all game formats requirea fixed start time. Dexterity game formats, for example, may involve astaggered start of players. In a closest to the pin golf tournament, aplayer beginning after another player has finished is at no particularadvantage or disadvantage.

[0090] One preferred embodiment notifies a player of impending start orend times for tournaments. FIG. 7 shows an example of such anotification process 550 for a tournament with a fixed start time. Inthat example, the game session has a number of game formats. First, theplayer enters 552 the game format he prefers to play via the associatedI/O device. The preference is communicated 554 to the centralcontroller, which registers 556 the preference. When the game session isfive minutes from starting, the central controller sends a start message558 to the I/O device of the player through the communication network.This communication would typically be electronic mail, although it couldtake other forms such as audible or visual alerts. Similar mechanismsmay be used to alert the player that a game session is about to end.

[0091] Note that the game software described does not have to residecompletely at the central controller. Part of the game software mayreside in the central controller and part of it may reside within theI/O device. This configuration can be implemented in a client/serverenvironment. In the case of an online tournament golf game, for example,if the client/server model is not used then the I/O device acts as adumb terminal. All of the game software resides on the game controller(server machine), receiving input from the I/O device and sending backthe results. The game parameters such as club selection and force ofswing are transmitted to the game controller which calculates the newposition of the ball. A graphics screen depicting the new ball placementis then downloaded to the I/O device. Because the downloading ofdetailed graphics screens is such a bandwidth-intensive function, thetime of transmission is normally long. Players are forced to wait for aperiod of time even with relatively fast modems. Although increasingmodem speeds are beginning to alleviate these delays in the transmissionof graphics, game software graphics usually increase in screenresolution (and hence bandwidth requirement) as new versions arereleased, partially counteracting the hardware improvements.

[0092] Switching to a client/server model for bandwidth-intensivefunctions may be more appropriate. In the case of the golf gamedescribed above, much of the game software can be handled by the I/Odevice. The I/O device would send the game parameters up to the centralcontroller which would calculate the coordinates of the new ballposition. These coordinates would then be sent back down to the I/Odevice where the game software would generate the graphics display ofthe new ball position. The time of data transmission is dramaticallyreduced since no bandwidth intensive functions (transmission ofgraphics) are required.

[0093] There are many different ways for a player to pay his entry fee.In one preferred embodiment, the process steps 204 responsive to paymentof an entry fee include the step of providing a number of paymentoptions for the player before he participates in a game session.Payments may be processed non-electronically, such as with cash orchecks, or may be communicated electronically with the onlinetransmission of credit card number, digital cash, debit card number, orbank account information for electronic fund transfers. Players may alsoregister any one of the above electronic payment methods with thecentral controller and then simply use a unique payment identificationnumber for future transactions. A player, for example, could registerhis credit card number and a password with the central controller. Fromthat time forward, the player would only have to present his passwordfor payment. The central controller would look up the password to findthe player's credit card number and would bill the card for thetournament entry fee. This preferred embodiment has the added advantageof eliminating the need for secure transmission of the paymentinformation. A hacker intercepting the player's payment communicationwith the central controller would get only the password, not the morevaluable credit card number. The password has little value as anywinnings obtained from the use of another player's account would becredited to that player's credit card and thus would not benefit thehacker.

[0094]FIG. 8 shows another type 600 of payment option in which theplayer approves automatic payments. The player first chooses a preferredmethod of payment, such as by credit card. This preference is stored 602at the central controller. The payment option is then activated 604 byany tournament activity by the player. If the player's unique identifieris used in tournament registration, his credit card is automaticallycharged for the appropriate amount.

[0095] The entry fee can also be tied to the amount of time that theplayer participates in the tournament—the longer he plays, the largerthe entry fee. In this preferred embodiment, the tournament system keepstrack of the amount of time the player spends in the tournament, billingthe player at the end of the tournament. This procedure may beapplicable in a flight simulator tournament in which players scorepoints for perfect landings. The more time the player spends at thesimulation, the greater the number of opportunities to land.

[0096] Much like a student who must complete required pre-requisitecourses before attending higher level classes, participation in sometournaments may require a confirmation of the player's performance data.Entry into the Star Trek Master's tournament, for example, might requireprevious participation in at least five of seven Star Trek categorytournaments. When the player tries to register for the Master'stournament, the central controller looks up the player's uniqueidentifier to check past performance data. If the performance data donot meet the criteria of the tournament, registration is denied. Theplayer is given a list of the missing qualifications, as well as thestarting times of future tournaments that would satisfy those criteria.

[0097] Prior tournament history can also be used to handicap players. Inregistering for a golf tournament, for example, part of the registrationprocess involves the central controller checking to see whether theplayer has won any prior tournaments, or whether he has simply played inmany tournaments. The player receives a handicap value from one to ten,depending on his level of experience. When the tournament starts,players with the most experience start from the tees farthest away fromthe pin, and face the strongest winds.

[0098] A database system allows for creative applications of a commonprize pool, which is a set of prizes not associated with a particulartournament. If there are ten trivia tournaments, for example, therecould be a prize for the longest string of consecutive correct answers.This could be the longest string within a given tournament, or it couldspan tournaments so that a player finishing a tournament with a stringof correct answers could continue this string in the next tournament heenters. The common prize pool thus spans a number of individualtournaments. Other criteria that could be used include the greatestnumber of standard deviations above the mean, the greatest number ofstandard deviations above the lowest score, the best score by a seniorcitizen, the most consecutive correct answers by a player under thirtyyears of age, etc.

[0099] Databases also allow for entry fees to be paid based on theactions taken within the tournament. In a hole-in-one tournament,players could hit as many balls as they want to, but would be chargedfor each ball that they hit. In this respect, entry fees are no longerpaid in advance, but after the tournament. The number of balls hit canbe stored in a database so that the player can participate in multipletournaments before paying.

[0100] Tournament promotions can make extensive use of the informationcontained within the tournament database. Electronic mail about futurebridge tournaments, for example, can go out to any player participatingin at least two bridge tournaments in the last year. Tournamentdatabases would also be valuable to companies promoting goods andservices. Star Trek videos, for example, could be marketed to thoseplayers competing in at least three Star Trek tournaments per year.

[0101] Player complaints about activity from prior tournaments areeasily handled by the tournament database. If a player complains that hehas not received payment for a tournament victory six months prior, thecentral controller would pull up the database record for that tournamentto see if the player was indeed one of the winners. If he was, thecentral controller would then access the player's database record todiscover whether or not he had be paid.

[0102] Normally, tournament prizes are established before the tournamentbegins. In one preferred embodiment, however, the prizes for a gamesession depend on the number of players participating in the gamesession—the more players participating, the larger the prizes.

[0103] In another preferred embodiment, each I/O device includes securememory (RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and the like) for storing tournamentdata. This memory is contained within a secure perimeter, which mayinclude physical, electronic, or a combination of physical andelectronic features to resist tampering. For example, physical featurescould include encapsulation while electronic features could include asilicon firewall. Combination features could include self-zeroing, orotherwise volatile memory, or memory that electrically modifies itscontents upon detection of tampering. Such tampering might includephysically stressing the device, attempting to change the clock rate byreplacing the external power source with a battery outside allowablecurrent or voltage ranges, or attempting to change the clock rate byreplacing external power sources with an AC power source operatingoutside an allowable frequency range. Alternatively, the secureperimeter could be merely tamper-evident. In that case, the device mightbe returned to the tournament organizers before any large prize could beclaimed. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a greatvariety of tamper-resistant/tamper-evident techniques can be deployed,and will not be enumerated in detail herein. Therefore, as a matter ofconvenience, terms such as “tamper resistant/tamper-evident” or “secure”shall be understood to refer to any of the aforementioned or othersecurity measures throughout this discussion.

[0104] Many preferred tournament embodiments are improved through theuse of a secure perimeter. One example is a puzzle tournament in whichthe time to solution is the critical component of the player's score.One game session may require the player to solve ten short puzzles withthe number of seconds required to solve the puzzles being the player'sscore for that game session. If there is a delay in the communication ofthe player's answers, perhaps due to latency problems in the onlinenetwork, the player is penalized by factors outside of his control. Ifthe times of puzzle completion are stored locally in the secureperimeter of the player's I/O device, however, the player may not bepenalized. His times would be sent to the central controller at the endof the game session and compared with the times registered by the gamecontroller over the online connection. The player would be credited withthe times registered by the processor within the secure perimeter of theI/O device. The secure tamper-resistant nature of the secure perimeterwould prevent players from altering their times to solution before theywere sent to the central controller.

[0105] Payment information likewise benefits from the use of a secureperimeter. An I/O device may store cryptographic keys within the secureperimeter to encrypt credit card information before it is communicatedto the game controller.

[0106]FIG. 9 shows another preferred embodiment, in which each I/Odevice includes a screen 650 having multiple windows 652, 654 thereon,with one window 652 displaying the tournament game session in which theassociated player is currently participating. The other windows may bedisplaying documents that the player is working on, while he is playingin the tournament. In one preferred embodiment, the player may enterpreferences that determine the size of the window displaying thetournament game session. This entering process can be similar to theplayer entering his game format preference, as shown in FIG. 7. A playermight opt to have the game session window take up a small portion of theI/O device screen at the beginning of a tournament, but expand to a fullsized window as the player advances to further game sessions of a giventournament. Thus, the tournament window expands as the possibility ofreceiving prizes increases.

[0107] In one preferred embodiment, the database includes the followingfields, and each field includes the corresponding information:

[0108] 1. Player Information/Demographics

[0109] Name

[0110] Address

[0111] Age

[0112] Sex

[0113] Preferences

[0114] Billing Type

[0115] Favorite tournament format

[0116] Start/stop times

[0117] Opponents

[0118] Language

[0119] 2. Billing Systems

[0120] Credit card numbers of players

[0121] Bank account numbers for electronic fund transfer (EFT)

[0122] Digital cash accounts

[0123] Total revenues

[0124] Aging of accounts receivable

[0125] Desired frequency of billing

[0126] Billing dates

[0127] Payment dates

[0128] Mailing addresses for prize payments by check

[0129] 3. Tournament Information

[0130] Format (trivia, strategy, prediction, etc.)

[0131] Start date/time

[0132] Stop date/time

[0133] Duration of tournament

[0134] Scheduled breaks

[0135] Scheduled times for player notification/warning

[0136] Prizes

[0137] Players currently registered

[0138] Players currently logged on

[0139] Cash entry fees received

[0140] Credit entry fees received

[0141] Number of game sessions

[0142] Player qualification requirements

[0143] Requirements for advancement to subsequent game sessions

[0144] 4. Player history

[0145] List of tournaments played

[0146] Prizes won

[0147] Average score

[0148] Number of times in final round

[0149] Average time to answer

[0150] Entry fees paid

[0151] 5. Question/Parameter/Answer Database

[0152] Format (trivia, strategy, etc.)

[0153] Creation date

[0154] Difficulty

[0155] Number of times it has been used

[0156] Tournaments that it has been used in

[0157] Scheduled deletion date

[0158] Percentage of correct responses

[0159] Parameter values (wind speed, speed of greens, etc.)

[0160] Results of prediction variables

[0161] The above-described database fields are not meant to be acomprehensive description of a tournament database system. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art of tournaments that there aremany other possible variations.

[0162] Other preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification orpractice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that thespecification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with thetrue scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the followingclaims.

I claim:
 1. A distributed electronic tournament system in which aplurality of remotely located players participate in a tournamentthrough input/output devices connected to a central controller whichmanages the tournament, the system comprising: (a) means for uniquelyidentifying a player communicating with the central controller via anassociated input/output device; (b) means responsive to payment of anentry fee by the player for allowing the player to participate in atournament occurring within a fixed time window via an associatedinput/output device; (c) means for accessing a database to store in thedatabase player information that is generated as the player participatesin the tournament, such information being available for use in asubsequent tournament, which is administered by said controller and inwhich the player participates; and (d) means for awarding the player aprize for achieving a pre-established performance level in thetournament.
 2. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein: the system further comprises game software; and part ofthe game software resides in the central controller and part of the gamesoftware resides in the input/output devices.
 3. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 2 wherein the part ofthe game software residing in the input/output device performsbandwidth-intensive functions.
 4. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 1 wherein each input/output device includessecured memory storing tournament-related data.
 5. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 4 wherein thetournament-related data include signals representing time.
 6. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinthe entry fee for the tournament is based on the amount of time theplayer participates in the tournament.
 7. A distributed electronictournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein the attainment of thepre-established performance level requires dexterity.
 8. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein theattainment of the pre-established performance level involves answeringquestions with deterministic answers.
 9. A distributed electronictournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein the attainment of thepre-established performance level involves prediction.
 10. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 the attainment of thepre-established performance level involves solving puzzles.
 11. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinthe attainment of the pre-established performance level involvesstrategy.
 12. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein the attainment of the pre-established performance levelinvolves chance.
 13. A distributed electronic tournament system asrecited in claim 1 wherein the pre-established performance levelincludes the amount of time required to achieve that level.
 14. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinsolutions to problems posed in tournaments are not deterministic andevaluating them requires judgment.
 15. A distributed electronictournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein the tournament timewindow has a fixed end time.
 16. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 15 wherein the attainment of thepre-established performance level requires dexterity.
 17. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 15 further comprisingmeans for notifying players who are participating in the tournament thatthe tournament is about to end.
 18. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 1 wherein the tournament time window has afixed start time.
 19. A distributed electronic tournament system asrecited in claim 18 wherein the attainment of the pre-establishedperformance level involves answering questions with deterministicanswers.
 20. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 18 further comprising means for notifying players who haveregistered for the tournament that the tournament is about to start. 21.A distributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinthe prize for the tournament depends on the number of playersparticipating in the tournament.
 22. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 1 wherein the number of players in thetournament is restricted to be below a preset value.
 23. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein apre-determined number of positions for players are reserved for aselected group of players until the starting time of the tournament is apreset time away, at which time the reserved positions will be madeavailable to all players, including those not within the selected group.24. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1wherein the means responsive to payment of an entry fee provides theoption for the player to pay before the player participates in thetournament.
 25. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 24 wherein the means responsive to payment of an entry feeprovides the option for the player to enter a password, which is linkedto the player's credit card number to automatically charge the entry feeto the credit card account.
 26. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 1 wherein the means responsive to payment ofan entry fee provides a plurality of payment options.
 27. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 26 wherein the meansresponsive to payment of an entry fee: stores the payment optionselected by the player in the tournament; and automatically activatesthat option after the player has been identified in a subsequenttournament.
 28. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein there are a plurality of games in the tournament and thegames are different.
 29. A distributed electronic tournament system asrecited in claim 28 wherein each game in the tournament is governed by aset of parameters, whose values change as a function of time.
 30. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein:the tournament includes at least one game; and that game is based on acontemporaneous live event.
 31. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 1 wherein: the tournament includes aplurality of games; and each player participates in a plurality ofgames.
 32. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein: there are a plurality of games in the tournament; anumber of games have different game formats; different players areinvolved in games in different game formats; the outcomes of the gamesare statistically normalized to facilitate comparison among differentgame formats; and the players in games in different game formats competeagainst each other to win common prizes.
 33. A distributed electronictournament system as recited in claim 8 wherein the system keeps trackof the amount of time the player participates in the tournament.
 34. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereineach player has to complete a qualifying event before the player canparticipate in the tournament.
 35. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 34 wherein the system determines if a playeris eligible to participate in a subsequent tournament based on theresults of the player's participation in the present tournament.
 36. Adistributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinthe difficulty level of the tournament is adjusted as the tournament isplayed.
 37. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein: the tournament includes games; and the games in thetournament are based on a recently concluded event.
 38. A distributedelectronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 wherein eachinput/output device comprises a screen having multiple windows thereon,with one window displaying the tournament in which the associated playeris currently participating.
 39. A distributed electronic tournamentsystem as recited in claim 38 further comprising means for the player toenter preferences which determine the size of the window displaying thetournament.
 40. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited inclaim 1 wherein the player information includes payment information. 41.A distributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1 whereinthe player information includes the player's performance information.42. A distributed electronic tournament system as recited in claim 1wherein the player information includes the player's preferences.
 43. Adistributed electronic elimination tournament system in which aplurality of remotely located players participate in a tournament havingmultiple game sessions through input/output devices connected to acentral controller which manages the tournament, the system comprising:(a) means for uniquely identifying a player communicating with thecentral controller via an associated input/output device; (b) meansresponsive to payment of an entry fee by the player for allowing theplayer to participate in a particular game session occurring within afixed time window via an associated input/output device; (c) means fordetermining whether the player has been qualified to advance to asubsequent game session, in which at least one player is eliminated fromthe previous game session; (d) means for awarding the player a prize forbeing qualified to advance to a subsequent game session; and (e) meansfor permitting each player qualified to a subsequent game session toparticipate in that game session.
 44. A distributed electronicelimination tournament system as recited in claim 43 wherein a databaseassociated with the central controller manages the game sessions, saiddatabase containing information on individual players.
 45. A distributedelectronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim 43 wherein:the system further comprises game software; and for each game session,part of the game software resides in the central controller and part ofthe game software resides in the input/output devices.
 46. A distributedelectronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim 43 whereineach input/output device includes secured memory storinggame-session-related data.
 47. A distributed electronic eliminationtournament system as recited in claim 46 wherein thegame-session-related data include signals representing time.
 48. Adistributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim46 wherein the game-session-related data include payment information.49. A distributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited inclaim 43 wherein the game session time window has a fixed end time. 50.A distributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited inclaim 43 wherein the game session time window has a fixed start time.51. A distributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited inclaim 50 further comprising means for notifying players who haveregistered for a game session that the game session is about to start.52. A distributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited inclaim 43 wherein the number of players in a game session is restrictedto be below a preset value.
 53. A distributed electronic eliminationtournament system as recited in claim 43 wherein a pre-determined numberof positions for players are reserved for a selected group of playersuntil the starting time of the game session is a preset time away, atwhich time the reserved positions will be made available to all players,including those not within the selected group.
 54. A distributedelectronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim 43 where inthe means for a player to pay an entry fee provides a plurality ofpayment options.
 55. A distributed electronic elimination tournamentsystem as recited in claim 54 wherein the means for a player to pay anentry fee: stores the payment option selected by a player in a previousgame session; and automatically activates that option after the playerhas been identified.
 56. A distributed electronic elimination tournamentsystem as recited in claim 43 wherein: a game session includes at leastone game; and the game sessions are based on a contemporaneous liveevent.
 57. A distributed electronic elimination tournament system asrecited in claim 43 wherein: there are a plurality of games in a gamesession; a number of games have different game formats; differentplayers are involved in games having different game formats; theoutcomes of the games are statistically normalized to facilitatecomparison among different game formats; and the players in games indifferent game formats compete against each other to win common prizes.58. A distributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited inclaim 43 wherein each player has to complete a qualifying event beforethe player can participate in a game session.
 59. A distributedelectronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim 58 whereinthe system determines if a player is eligible to participate in a gamesession based on the results of the player's past participation.
 60. Adistributed electronic elimination tournament system as recited in claim43 wherein the difficulty level of a game session is adjusted as thegame session is played.
 61. A distributed electronic eliminationtournament system as recited in claim 43 wherein: a game sessionincludes games; and the games in the game session are based on arecently concluded event.
 62. A method of using a distributed electronictournament system in which a plurality of remotely located playersparticipate in a tournament through input/output devices connected to acentral controller which manages the tournament, the method comprisingthe steps of: (a) uniquely identifying a player communicating with thecentral controller via an associated input/output device; (b) respondingto payment of an entry fee by the player for allowing the player toparticipate in a tournament occurring within a fixed time window via anassociated input/output device; (c) accessing a database to store in thedatabase player information that is generated as the player participatesin the tournament, such information being available for use in asubsequent tournament, which is administered by said controller and inwhich the player participates; and (d) awarding the player a prize forachieving a pre-established performance level in the tournament.
 63. Amethod as recited in claim 62 wherein: the system further comprises gamesoftware; and part of the game software resides in the centralcontroller and part of the game software resides in the input/outputdevices.
 64. A method as recited in claim 63 wherein the part of thegame software residing in the input/output device performsbandwidth-intensive functions.
 65. A method as recited in claim 62wherein each input/output device includes secured memory storingtournament-related data.
 66. A method as recited in claim 65 wherein thetournament-related data include signals representing time.
 67. A methodas recited in claim 65 wherein the tournament-related data includepayment information.
 68. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein theentry fee for the tournament is based on the amount of time the playerparticipates in the tournament.
 69. A method as recited in claim 62wherein the attainment of the pre-established performance level requiresdexterity.
 70. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the attainment ofthe pre-established performance level involves answering questions withdeterministic answers.
 71. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein theattainment of the pre-established performance level involves prediction.72. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the attainment of thepre-established performance level involves solving puzzles.
 73. A methodas recited in claim 62 wherein the attainment of the pre-establishedperformance level involves strategy.
 74. A method as recited in claim 62wherein the attainment of the pre-established performance level involveschance.
 75. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the pre-establishedperformance level includes the amount of time required to achieve thatlevel.
 76. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein solutions to problemsposed in tournaments are not deterministic and evaluating them requiresjudgment.
 77. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the tournamenttime window has a fixed end time.
 78. A method as recited in claim 77wherein the attainment of the pre-established performance level requiresdexterity.
 79. A method as recited in claim 77 further comprising thestep of notifying players who are participating in the tournament thatthe tournament is about to end.
 80. A method as recited in claim 62wherein the tournament time window has a fixed start time.
 81. A methodas recited in claim 80 wherein the attainment of the pre-establishedperformance level involves answering questions with deterministicanswers.
 82. A method as recited in claim 80 further comprising the stepof notifying players who have registered for the tournament that thetournament is about to start.
 83. A method as recited in claim 62wherein the prize for the tournament depends on the number of playersparticipating in the tournament.
 84. A method as recited in claim 62wherein the number of players in the tournament is restricted to bebelow a preset value.
 85. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein apre-determined number of positions for players are reserved for aselected group of players until the starting time of the tournament is apreset time away, at which time the reserved positions will be madeavailable to all players, including those not within the selected group.86. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the step of responding topayment provides the option for the player to pay before the playerparticipates in the tournament.
 87. A method as recited in claim 86wherein the step of responding to payment provides the option for theplayer to enter a password, which is linked to the player's credit cardnumber to automatically charge the entry fee to the credit card account.88. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the step of responding topayment provides a plurality of payment options.
 89. A method as recitedin claim 88 wherein the step of responding to payment includes the stepsof: storing the payment option selected by the player in the tournament;and automatically activating that option after the player has beenidentified in a subsequent tournament.
 90. A method as recited in claim62 wherein the re are a plurality of games in the tournament and thegame s are different.
 91. A method as recited in claim 90 wherein eachgame in the tournament is governed by a set of parameters, whose valueschange as a function of time.
 92. A method as recited in claim 62wherein: the tournament includes at least one game; and that game isbased on a contemporaneous live event.
 93. A method as recited in claim62 wherein: the tournament includes a plurality of games; and eachplayer participates in a plurality of games.
 94. A method as recited inclaim 62 wherein: there are a plurality of games in the tournament; anumber of games have different game formats; different players areinvolved in games in different game formats; the outcomes of the gamesare statistically normalized to facilitate comparison among differentgame formats; and the players in games in different game formats competeagainst each other to win common prizes.
 95. A method as recited inclaim 68 wherein the system keeps track of the amount of time the playerparticipates in the tournament.
 96. A method as recited in claim 62wherein each player has to complete a qualifying event before the playercan participate in the tournament.
 97. A method as recited in claim 96wherein the system determines if a player is eligible to participate ina subsequent tournament based on the results of the player'sparticipation in the present tournament.
 98. A method as recited inclaim 62 wherein the difficulty level of the tournament is adjusted asthe tournament is played.
 99. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein:the tournament includes games; and the games in the tournament are basedon a recently concluded event.
 100. A method as recited in claim 62wherein each input/output device comprises a screen having multiplewindows thereon, with one window displaying the tournament in which theassociated player is currently participating.
 101. A method as recitedin claim 100 further comprising the step of entering by the playerpreferences which determine the size of the window displaying thetournament.
 102. A method as recited in claim 62 wherein the playerinformation includes payment information.
 103. A method as recited inclaim 62 wherein the player information includes the player'sperformance information.
 104. A method as recited in claim 62 whereinthe player information includes the player's preference.